Friday, April 4, 2014

Top 10 World’s Richest Oil Countries That Are Still Poor

Original source : http://www.gizmocrazed.com

Posted : September 2013

Author : Mary Mckee

These are the richest oil nations per-capita, but take a
closer look and you’ll see that their real per capita income, unemployment, and
national poverty level is poor. Certainly poorer than you would expect in
countries with this much black gold.

10. Iraq

Iraq’s
oil wealth translates to $515,384 per person, but that doesn’t mean that every
person in the nation is seeing that cash. With an unemployment rate of 16% and
25% of the population living in poverty as of 2008, it is hard to believe that
the GDP per capita is $4,600.

9. Brunei

The Serian near-shore oil field, Brunei, rakes in an oil wealth of
$521,000 per capita. Seria as an oil rich nation is much better off than Iraq. With an
unemployment rating of 2.7% (2010) and only 4% are living in poverty. Not bad,
with a GDP per capita of $50,500.

8. Canada

The oil and gas reserves in Canada
equate to approximately $565,049 per capita, Seria’s Brunei
fields still surprisingly surpass Canada
in income per person, despite Canada’s
reputation as a great place to live. With only a GDP per capita of $41,500,
9.4% of Canadians are living in poverty and have an unemployment rate of 7.3%. Tar
sands are a large source of Canada’s
natural resource wealth.

7. Libya

Oil and gas reserves that have not been monetized yet in Libya, but
still with a per capita calculation of $861,101, it is hard to understand why
the country is in such bad shape. With a GDP per capita of $13,300 Libya has a
shocking 30% of its population living below the poverty line and a 30%
unemployment rate.

6. Saudi
Arabia

Saudi
Arabia is notorious for their vast oil and
gas reserves. Their reserves would make it possible for the country to give
every citizen a check for $1.12 million. However, Saudi Arabia has a GDP per capita
of $25,700 and an unemployment rate of 10.7%. We can’t tell you how much of the
population live below the poverty line because there is no official statistic…
which does not make us assume the best.

5. Venezuela

To put into perspective the amount of oil and gas reserves
in Venezuela, it is the Americas equivalent of the Persian
Gulf. The oil and gas reserves per capita equates to $1.14 million
but that doesn’t mean that the general population is seeing it. With only an 8%
unemployment rate, there was 31.6% of the nation living in poverty in 2011.

4. Turkmenistan

The Turkmenistan
oil and gas reserves just off the Caspian Sea
equate to $1.54 million. Oil drilling platforms are familiar in the Caspian Sea
in Turkmenistan.
However, with only a GDP of $8,500 per capita despite immense oil wealth, the
country has an unemployment rating of 60% with 30% of the population living in
poverty in 2004.

3. United
Arab Emirates

Saudi Arabia’s
neighbor, the small but energy stuffed United Arab Emirates, produce an
impressive $1.63 million per capita in oil and gas. While the small nation’s
GDP is neck and neck with that of the U.S., it still struggles with
poverty. Still, a GDP per capita of $49,000 and only 2.4% unemployment, the
19.5% population living in poverty is not nearly as bad as many other countries
on this list.

2. Kuwait

With the population of around 2.8 million, the small nation
produces a whopping $4.14 million per capita in oil and gas. We have no
official data on the poverty level, but they have a $43,800 GDP and only an
unemployment rate of 2.2%.

1. Qatar

Qatar’s
oil wealth is an astounding $6.01 million, making this the place to be on the Persian Gulf. While there is no official data about the
poverty level, a GDP per capita of $102,800 and only 0.5% unemployment, we feel
comfortable in assuming it’s pretty low.